14 DAY TRIAL // The Blu-ray disk standard, though expensive, was amazing enough even when it “only” supported 100 GB or 128 GB storage space (BDXL specification), but Pioneer wasn't satisfied with just that, so it went further.
Though by “further” we don't mean to say that the BD association just slapped a new layer to the things.
It's not like it would have been all that possible either, since 128 GB disks already have four. Any more than that and the accuracy of the scribed data, or of the beam for that matter, is debatable.
Instead, Pioneer created a new Blu-ray standard that allows for up to 512 GB of storage space, though only 256 GB are possible at the moment.
They are able to clone or back up your entire solid-state drive, or even your HDD if it's a particularly low-capacity one (unlikely as it is, in these times).
The best part is that you don't need a totally new disc writing and reading technology to use them. Sure, new optical drives will have to be made, but they are still based on the Blu-ray standard, so Pioneer is sure to release such a product soon.
Previous super-capacity disk storage products relied on specially made reading drives and cost a lot, like the disks themselves for that matter. They never caught on.
Then again, it's not exactly certain that this new media will catch on either. At least not in the near future.
Perhaps a decade from now we'll really have console games large enough to demand them, but for now, even 128 GB is too much.
Also, people are more likely to purchase a USB 3.0 flash drive unit or an external/portable HDD (hard disk drive) or SSD. They're easier to carry around and can connect to a PC on their own, making them much more convenient.
Not even 4K films need as much capacity as Pioneer's latest disk offers. All in all, one could argue that it's a bit (or a lot) ahead of its time.
On the flip side, since Blu-ray drives are capacious enough now (BDXL ones anyway) to only be “worth it” in backup and other big data applications, demand for it might turn out to be decent after all.
That will ultimately hinge on the endurance of the new standard though. We don't know the data retention on these things, though since they're still Blu-ray drives, we can afford to be optimistic. Pioneer is at least.